Cosplaying horses, flying buses, and the final frontier

Hello, friends!

How are you doing? I found myself unexpectedly a little choked up in the presence of a replica Mars rover on the weekend, and I’m still not entirely sure why.

Maybe taking in this model of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover, being close enough to see its onboard experiments, and a hint of all the exquisite engineering that’s gone into them, what people can achieve when they work together, and what might be delivered by the rover, maybe that was a surge of hope.

Urgh, too earnest, urgh. Let’s get to silliness. Coming up:

🐴 how to dress up a horse who’s being bothered by flies

🌕 why the Moon will likely look massive this week

🖖 why a US president yielded to the demands of Star Trek fans.

Let’s go!

PS: I’d love to show you my picture of the Rosalind Franklin rover but apparently I’m not allowed to post it. It’s at the Natural History Museum’s Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? exhibition, which runs until February.

read all about it

The “cleaner fish” in coral reefs’ natural “beauty salons” play a big role in these ecosystems: “This study really lays a foundation for using cleaner fish stations as a way to study movement of microbes around the reef environment,” says the paper’s lead author Anya Brown. (University of California, Davis)

How “slow looking” can help both artists and scientists learn: “Visual analysis and critical thinking are becoming even more important in daily life now with the rise of AI-generated images and videos,” write authors Amanda Rogers and Madeleine Dempster. “Integrating the arts into other disciplines can support critical thinking and introduce learners to new perspectives.” (The Conversation)

“Space Oddity” astronaut Chris Hadfield is a fan of gravity: “[What’s the worst space chore?] Fixing the toilet. They break all the time. Being elbows deep in a toilet anywhere is no fun – it’s even worse when it’s weightless.” (The Guardian)

that time when…

… a US coach company announced it was making helicopter buses a thing (14 June 1943)

“The Greyhound Bus Lines plans to establish a nation-wide system of helicopter aerial buses as soon as feasible,” says the 14 June 1943 New York Times report.

The plan was to create “Greyhound Skyways”, an aerial service operating over the company’s existing bus network. Involved in the design of the heli-bus was Mr Helicopter himself, Igor Sikorsky, who developed the first mass-produced helicopter.

“The passengers can laugh at traffic and stop lights now,” goes this delightful clip from 1946. “In a few minutes, they’ll be looking down on us.”

But it wasn’t to be. While Greyhound continued to test new models into the late-’40s, it grounded the idea in 1950.

what’s happening this week?

Your agenda for Monday 9 – Sunday 15 June.

All times are BST, and all sky views are from London.

🔭 in a sky near you: Look out for the full Moon toward the south late on Tuesday night – it’ll be near its lowest position in a 18.6-year cycle.

As it’ll be super low in the sky, we’ll have an opportunity to experience the Moon illusion. This is where the Moon appears much bigger when it’s near the horizon compared with it’s higher in the sky.

👀 closer to Earth: Here come the dragonflies. Dragonflies start emerging about this time of year, looking for food and a mate. Find them where you find moisture – over wetlands, and perched on vegetation around ponds, but also in moorlands and glades.

The Wildlife Trusts has this guide for spotting dragonflies and damselflies, wherever in the UK you happen to be.

online talks and events… and a launch

🫡 Axiom Mission 4 launches to the International Space Station, livestream by NASA, Tuesday 10 June, stream starts at 12.25 for a 13.22 launch, free

🌱 Carbon takeback: how we will stop fossil fuels from causing global warming with Professor Myles Allen, hybrid lecture by Gresham College, Tuesday 10 June, 18.00, free

🌅 First light: the first dawn of stars and galaxies with Professor James Dunlop, hybrid lecture by the University of Oxford, Wednesday 11 June, 17.00, free

🦠 The future of immunity with Professor Robin May, hybrid lecture by Gresham College, Wednesday 11 June, 18.00, free

🤔 Finding the self in the brain: why the body works for mind with Professor Jane Aspell, hybrid lecture by Anglia Ruskin University, Wednesday 11 June, 18.00, free

🔍 An extragalactic murder mystery: can black holes kill galaxies? with Dr Samuel Ward, online lecture by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Thursday 12 June, 18.00, free

📱 Materials science for tomorrow’s technologies with Dr Jess Wade, hybrid event by the Royal Institution, Saturday 14 June, 19.00, pay what you can

we finally know…

…that fewer flies land on horses dressed like zebras.

Source: Benefits of zebra stripes: Behaviour of tabanid flies around zebras and horses (PLOS One)

we need answers

Last week I asked:

The answer is… the space shuttle Enterprise.

Enterprise was NASA’s first space shuttle, the first in a line of partially reusable space vehicles that would boldly go on to deliver 355 astronauts into low Earth orbit over 30 years.

The original plan was to name the vehicle OV-101 Constitution, a nod to the document that’s essentially America’s rulebook. However, Star Trek fans mounted a write-in campaign, urging NASA and then President Gerald Ford to name it Enterprise after the show’s splendid starship.

At a White House meeting on 8 September 1976, coincidentally the 10th anniversary of the TV show’s debut, Ford suggested he was keen on the name, saying: “To explore the frontiers of space, there is no better ship than the space shuttle, and no better name for that ship than the Enterprise.”

Actual chills.

Nine days later, Enterprise rolled out to meet its public in Palmdale, California. Among the 600 invited guests were Star Trek’s cast and creator, captured here in one of the hottest photos of all time.

until next week…

Which of these is the odd one out, and why?

• omicron

• blink

• smile

• winch

Answer comes next week. See you then! x